Episode 3: Family reunion?
Arc: "Devil's Deal"
Opening: Shiver – Gazette.
. . .
"Mentor Keehnesi?" Asked a voice behind the one called Keehnesi. The pink floating square, called Keehnesi, or Keeh for short, turned to the black-haired boy with dark green eyes. "I sense an aura amongst us, and it's dangerous. However, I can't identify the owner of such aura. I was wondering if you are able to do so, mentor." The child asked formally and respectfully. The square floated to him before swiftly turning into a human. His form was simple: a man on his early twenties wearing a pink suit and with bright pink hair with a single braid at the end. The man looked down at the boy. As the child called him 'mentor', it could be assumed that the child was his apprentice.
"I'm not so sure, Asaph. Some things are better left unseen." Keehnesi answered to his student, Asaph Horth. The boy huffed, and then sat on the floor of the dreamscape. "Now, for your next lesson you know what to do, right?" The boy thought hard as memories from last time resurfaced to his mind: he was learning how to teleport himself to places. Asaph nodded. "Ok, it's simple. Close your eyes, focus and then think of a specific place. It's like the levitation lesson." Keehnesi explained. Asaph closed his eyes for a brief moment, but then opened them again. He most likely had a question.
"Sir, I think Mister Bill is here." As a matter of fact, Bill suddenly appeared next to Keehnesi, who wasn't so impressed at all. "Yeah…" Asaph muttered, now feeling uncomfortable with the situation he had just predicted. Like all young dream demons, Asaph Horth had a special psychic power. He could predict the future, see what'd happen, but his power had limits. He could see only what'd happen days before it would actually happen. Sometimes just seconds before it'd happen! He barely had time to do anything, in which predicting the future came up as an annoying power, according to him.
"Hey, Keeh! What's up?" Bill asked in a relaxed tone, leaning against Keehnesi. The taller man just grunted and shoved Bill off him.
"I'm good. Now, what do you want? Did you finally find yourself an apprentice or what?" Asked Keehnesi harshly. He seemed very irritable, but it was rare to find a day when he isn't. Bill rolled his eyes. And Keehnesi usually lacked all kinds of emotions because it'd make him go 'soft' on his students and that was something he would never do. Especially because, comparing to all other dream demon's students he has had, he pushed Asaph beyond his limits the most. That caused the boy to behave and respect him, and to be at a higher level than normal dream demons at his age.
"Yes, I did." Bill chirped loudly, which caused Keehnesi to wince at the loud tone of his voice. "And I won't lose this one. Not this time." The blond reassured, although it seemed like it was more to himself than to anyone else. Keehnesi knew exactly what Bill was talking about when he said 'not this time'. He was there. He was glad that it happened. The boy was a dangerous demon, a threat! It had to be eliminated. But Bill liked him, and Keehnesi hurt him. He hurt them both. Keehnesi shook the thoughts off his mind; he wasn't going soft on Bill.
"That's great." The pink-haired man answered in a monotone voice. "Since you're so excited about it, why don't you bring him tonight for the reunion? He surely must've learned something already." Asaph's eyes lit up. He had only one male friend. Meeting a new boy must be exciting; he didn't even care about the gender. As he completed that thought, two silhouettes appear suddenly next to him, causing the black-haired kid to stir. The two figures, after some seconds, became two almost identical kids: dark, wavy orange hair, flicking green eyes, freckles and two matching smiles; the difference was that, while the boy's smile was sincere, the girl's was more malicious. They were also wearing identical suits: white shirts and shorts, gray cloaks and two blue bracelets. They could've been easily misunderstood if the girl didn't have longer hair with two long pigtails. Somehow, she managed to be scarier than Bill, whilst the boy could be considered her tamer.
"Aph! How are you?! I haven't seen you since forever!" The girl asked loudly, almost shouting.
"He's probably fine, like always. We saw him yesterday." The boy answered. "Also, can't you say a word without shouting?"
"You can't boss me!" The girl growled; though the growl sounded really false at this point. "Remember that I'm older than you! Don't forget about that fact, I'm the alpha here!" The red-haired pointed out, poking her brother in the chest just to prove her point. A smirk found its way to her mouth. The boy narrowed his eyes at her. He hated when she did that, rubbing her two minutes of difference in hos face.
"Just for a few minutes! We're twins, remember?" He protested. "And that makes absolutely no difference whatsoever!"
"I'm STILL older."
"Oh, shut up, Danna."
"Make me, Dan!" And then the two siblings quit the bickering to start a real screaming match. Asaph rolled his eyes. He didn't expect anything else. It always ends up in a fight. He snapped his fingers and the siblings were both caged, on different cages of course. His skills and dreamscape manipulation were on point, luckily, and he was able to prevent fights and stop them easily.
"Great…" Daniel murmured with a sarcastic smile.
"Hey, let us out of here! Please, I'm claustrophobic and all!" The girl, Danna, exclaimed when she noticed that she was in a cage, gripping the bars. Asaph approached the two of them. They didn't know what Asaph would do to them, especially because he hated fight, even if he got into them as well sometimes (Asaph would proudly admit he was a hypocrite); mainly when it came to the two of them. In normal circumstances they would have managed to free themselves on their own, but their lack of training was what prevented that from happening.
"Stop fighting, then." He insisted.
"Danna started it." Daniel accused with a poker face, while pointing to his sister. Danna frowned at him.
"Oh, so now it's MY fault?" Before Daniel could retort, a bright light illuminated the room, forcing everyone to look up. A circle-shaped blue creature appeared, and then looked down at the two caged siblings. They looked up for a while, gulped and then pretended they didn't see anything. The triangle narrowed its only eye, glowed briefly and then a young woman, with baby-blue hair and dress-looking clothes with the same color, appeared instead. She floated to where the two siblings were caged. In a snap of fingers, the two were free from the cages. Of course, that didn't mean they were free from the upcoming punishment.
"You two should be training!" She scolded. "Why are you two here?"
"W-We just wanted to see Asaph!" Danna explained. "Right, As?" Asaph shrugged. The two siblings always used the excuse of going to 'visit' him to escape the lessons. They found it boring, and always preferred the chaos that it brought. The woman didn't seem to buy the answer. "Fine! We were trying to escape the training! It's boring, so what?" Danna gave up on trying giving an excuse. She was easy to break through. Her aura wasn't the strongest, but her mind was sharp. Daniel was exactly the opposite: while not having a 'focused' mind such as his sister, he was hard to drive into madness and also difficult to make him give up so easily.
"Alright, you both, to your own dreamscape. I'll talk to you later." Daniel and Danna felt something inside them snap. It was probably their courage. They nodded fearfully and, in a snap of fingers, they disappeared. The other two adults in the room turned to see the woman pinching the bridge of her nose. "What will I do to them?" She whispered, before noticing the other two demons around her. "Oh, hey there." She said monotonically.
"You sound sad." Keehnesi said in a monotone voice, as always.
"I think I'm getting a migraine." The woman answered out loud.
"Kids are little devils, Bea. Once you get one, or two, or three even, you've sold your soul to the devil." Bill said, smiling. The woman, Beatrice, didn't enjoy his explanation at all. But it was close to the reality. "You're coming to the reunion today, right? I haven't seen you since last year when you had to go to that important place which you refuse to talk about." The blonde man circled Beatrice.
"Of course I'm coming, but it'll depend on Danna and Daniel's behavior. I know that they look like they were raised from hell, but this week in particular they are insupportable!" She exclaimed. "They manage to drive me mad faster than you do." Beatrice smirked at her last sentence.
"Ouch, that hurt me deeply, Bea. I'm not that bad." Bill said in a fake mock-hurt, putting his hand to his heart. Wherever it should be. "And I'm bringing my new apprentice too. Today they'll learn how to turn into their animal forms, right?"
"Yes." Bea answered. "Do you remember the first time you've turned into your animal form?" She asked. Bill smirked at the memories. Keehnesi didn't sound so happy about it at all. After all, how could he? When Bill is on his animal form, it's like a bullet: unstoppable, chaotic and deadly. Not very different from his normal form. Bill can go chaotic in any form.
"How could anyone forget? He went all crazy and tried to eat me just because he could." Keehnesi deadpanned. Asaph stifled a laugh. A simple glare from his mentor shut him up.
"Sorry, you sounded delicious." Bill said in a mocking tone.
"You're an idiot." Keehnesi shot him a hard glare, in which Bill replied with a smirk.
"You're still delicious, maybe I'll try to eat you." Bill's smirk could show everyone his now-sharp teeth. Then a tail was seen waving behind him back and forth. His nails got sharper, his mouth was becoming a muzzle and Bea noticed two elevations on his head. Dog ears. Oh, great, he's starting again, she thought. She took a step back, pretending she wasn't there. But she was there. Logic.
"Oh, no. Bill, don't you dare to approach me!" Keehnesi threatened, while he started to run. Behind him, a golden-fur wolf was running at full speed. It wasn't very visible, but he was smirking. "BILL, GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" The pink-haired young adult shouted. Bill kept following him. So technically, to resume everything, they were crazy. And Bill's animal form was a wolf. (Am I giving too much spoilers? No? Ok.) Bea was now watching a neon-colored dream demon being followed by a demon wolf with a bowtie. Classic.
"I am surrounded by idiots…" Bea muttered while face-palming. But deep inside, she was having fun. I wonder how tonight's going to be, that was her last thought before she teleported to where her students were. She would have a serious conversation with them.
...
What to do…? Dipper kept muttering to himself multiple times while lying on his bed, his face was buried on the pillow. I promised Mabel that I'd tell any secret that I had, but is it worth it? And how would she react at discovering that I made a deal with our worst enemy? The brunette boy groaned. He was facing some kind of eternal dilemma. And what should he do? I'm sure that if I just lie here all day it won't solve anything… Maybe I should ask Bill about it… Dipper mused deeply. He wasn't fully trusting Bill, but the demon proved that he wasn't all bad. At least that is what Dipper thought. Even so, how could I know if he's a threat or not?
"Arguing with yourself, kid?" Dipper immediately stood up on the bed. And then he analyzed every inch of the room. No one was there. Then who had talked to him? "Yesh, kid, don't you recognize me? Ha ha, I'll give you a hint, it's not you!"
"Bill?" Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Uh, where are you? Are you invisible, or…?"
"I'm on your mind, kid!" The monotone voice answered. "And, gosh, some things here can't be unseen. What's your relationship with the ginger girl, anyway?" Dipper blushed madly. Could Bill see his memories too? "Yes." And he could, apparently, read his mind as well. Dipper bit his lower lip. He had to be more careful about his thoughts. "Anyway, kid, I'm here to tell you something very important happening tonight, so you'll have to go to bed earlier today." Dipper was now getting interested in what Bill was talking about.
"Why?" He asked.
"Well, two other dream demons will have a reunion with me and I need you there. They'll also bring their apprentices so you won't feel so uncomfortable. Or you will. The point is that I need you there at 9:30. Got it?" Bill asked.
"Yes, I guess." Dipper muttered.
"Great! See you, kid. And, remember, I'm always watching!" And then Dipper felt his mind get lighter. Dipper blinked twice; he felt like he had just awakened from a dream. He rubbed his eyes and then blinked again. His sight was now clear. The brunette glanced at the clock on his bedside: 2 P.M. Maybe I'll hunt some unnatural creatures today, I have time… Dipper grabbed book #3 and then headed to the forest. One thought couldn't leave his mind, and hovered around it like a bird trying to catch a worm...
…I wonder who I'll meet tonight…
A/N: What the f*** was that 'chase-Keeh-in-a-wolf-body' part? Well, HAPPY APRIL FOOLS... or not.
Sorry, I guess I needed some comedy to lighten up my day because I have a freaking cold and this stuff is horrible. Let's see how many OCs we have here: Keehnesi, Asaph, Daniel, Danna and Beatrice. Lol, 5 OCs on only one chapter. My record! TONIGHT THE APPRENTICES WILL DISCOVER THEIR ANIMAL FORMS! I have some questions that I'd like you to answer, if you can, of course. QUIZ TIME:
(1): What will Dipper's animal form be? And the others (Asaph, Daniel and Danna)?
(2): What is the relationship between Keeh, Bill and Bea? (Ciphercest? Nop, sorry ...Although the idea of Billcest [weird word] isn't bad at all [hentai mental ilness activated])
(3): Do you like nachos? (Bill: Is that a joke or what?)
Do you? I'm just wondering here... 'You're still delicious' F*ck you, brain, why did I have to put this phrase on this fanfiction? SEE, KIDS? THIS IS WHY THAT FIC IS T-RATED! 'CUZ I'M A JERK! Well, that's all, I guess. I haven't slept in three days.
...
Second A/N: I'm back, and re-writting this chapter with the help of Lanx Borealis! It's just that I'm fixing grammar errors that he helped. THANKS, LANX! I'm also asking for his help for later chapters. And I'm always improving, ok? It's just that I'm BRAZILIAN and my country isn't, well, as good as you think. But I'm always improving. Bye!
Awakened Niwana, off.